The introduction of counterfeit merchandise into supply chains regularly results in major losses of revenue to legitimate manufacturers. Further losses of revenue are commonplace for consumer goods such as cigarettes, which typically are required to bear a tax stamp or other indicia proving that taxes have been properly paid. Similarly, knock-off versions of items ranging from purses and shoes to cases for cellular telephones have been known to diminish revenues to legitimate manufacturers of such items. Owing to ever more sophisticated technologies for counterfeiting legitimate brand indicia and/or simple tax stamps, enforcement against rouge distributors and retailers proves ever more difficult. As such, there are on-going needs for verification and authentication systems, and for methods of implementing such verification and authentication systems, that can efficiently and reliably assess the validity and/or authenticity of consumer goods, wherever they are found.